No Beadlock Wheel Trim Options - UNTIL NOW

[MeBEEF]

I'd absolutely take a set just to protect my original rings (which I got powdercoated cactus gray) when I go offroad if you're making them in cactus gray.

I have Cactus Gray, so yeah I'll definitely be doing them first. Just FYI the colors offered in the filament is not exactly our truck colors, but it's pretty close.

Sponsored

 

[Garaged]

I have Cactus Gray, so yeah I'll definitely be doing them first. Just FYI the colors offered in the filament is not exactly our truck colors, but it's pretty close.

You wouldn't happen to be able to make the design look just like the original beadlock trims would you?

 

[raf1919]

So I can print some for people on here. I will charge for the plastic, and maybe some for printer time, as 3D printers have consumable parts, like the nozzles, and a few other parts but it's not much.

As for material: I am thinking ASA, as it is pretty robust, still quite cheap, and water resistant, but I need to look further into this, like UV resistance.

The print time is about 40 hours total for the 4 wheels is my guess.

Also if you guys can think of other design patterns, let me know. I was thinking many little circles (sort of like a golf ball), or slanted line (like in the pic but with an angle).

The color matching to paint will not be perfect but close enough.

I think the idea is for people to drop-ship the filament to me from amazon, and send a few extra bucks via venmo or whatever for the comsumables.

The other idea is I can just share the design for free, and if you have a printer you can do it on your own, and/or you can get it printed at a 3D printing website.

For colors: Go to amazon and type "Overture ASA filament" and you can see examples of the colors.

For green RR's: Use Olive Green
For Cactus Grey: Use Gray

If you want a code-orange-like color, I saw a few other filament that has this color.

Another cool benefit, it should lighten up your wheels a bit, my guess is you'll drop 4-5 lbs per wheel.

I just got a 3d printer for my kids and been looking for something to print. If you can share design. Dumb question how do i load design into printer haha. Right now I just use the Bambu app with preloaded designs. I guess i need to learn more.

 

[John E Davies]

I suggest buying filament on reusable plastic spools, they work much better in a multi-spool rack, and you can resell them on eBay for as much as $10 each. Look for free shipping and bulk discounts, I much prefer ordering direct from Bambu.
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/asa-filament

Supplies vary wildly with time, and new tariffs WILL raise prices drastically. Most of the affordable filament ships directly from China! ASA and some other specialty filaments require a full printer enclosure, plus air filtration (dangerous fumes)!!! They print best at very slow speed (1/4 the speed of PLA) and hot. You have to preheat the enclosure for 30 minutes before hitting “Print” and also add a 30 minute cool down time before opening the door after the print finishes, this uses a TON of energy for large objects like wheel rings, so you need to figure your local electricity cost in the overall cost. Add a watt meter to your printer!
https://www.simplify3d.com/resources/materials-guide/asa/

It is always best to print indoors, so waste heat is a factor, in winter it just heats your home, but in summer your AC will have to deal with it! Plus add in the printer wear items, just like driving a car, there is way more cost involved than just the tires.

I spent a month printing a bunch of parts in ABS and I noticed a big increase in my energy bill, this is with power at $0.11 per kwh, not $0.45 like in California!

You should use a printer that changes filament automatically, so you don’t have to baby-sit, that is very time intensive!
https://us.store.bambulab.com/produ...qEkMNBJlW04xtKrH9yNQe6p2OD0rNULelr45F2U&gQT=1

99% of the crap on eBay and Etsy is printed with cheap and fragile PLA filament on wide open, high speed print farms. That is how they can afford to even sell the parts at those prices. Specialty filaments are much harder to use properly, they require high quality printers, and the overall cost per object is much higher.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA
Bambu P1S with AMS - fully sealed, insulated and HEPA filtered

 

[John E Davies]

I just got a 3d printer for my kids and been looking for something to print. If you can share design. Dumb question how do i load design into printer haha. Right now I just use the Bambu app with preloaded designs. I guess i need to learn more.

You need to watch a bunch of how to videos, or look for a local store or community college that offers beginner classes. It is not easy, there is a very steep learning curve and you may get discouraged by lots of failed prints. FYI the files you can get directly on your Bambu Studio (slicer) are much better than the average “I found it on the Internet” files, those often are very buggy or simply don’t print correctly. This includes some $10 ones.

Any downloaded STL file should load into your Studio app, just drag it into the open app, but tweaking the print settings is the tricky part. Plus if the code is poor, you will get an error message and you have to use an online “fixer” site to make it usable, unless you have your own CAD skills.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[MeBEEF]

My truck is cactus

You wouldn't happen to be able to make the design look just like the original beadlock trims would you?

Dude we could do whatever we want? We can print an astronaut on them.

this idea is actually makes the most sense I'll eventually work on this

 

[boraxman]

I want a set...watching

 

[MeBEEF]

I just got a 3d printer for my kids and been looking for something to print. If you can share design. Dumb question how do i load design into printer haha. Right now I just use the Bambu app with preloaded designs. I guess i need to learn more.

I can help. There is a learning curve for many specific things but just a basic print with PLA is just load, select filament , and hit play.

I want a set...watching

Cool everyone. When I get this dialed in with fitment, I'll test them and see what's up and then I can work on getting people's names.

Again, you will need to send me $ for the filament (plastic), and shipping, and I'll print them for free. I'll make a few slides on a PDF showing the design and the cost breakdown. I don't think it will cost more than $80, but it also depends on how "beefy" I need to print them ... meaning how much fill and shell layers we use to make them durable yet cheap and light.

 

[raf1919]

I can help. There is a learning curve for many specific things but just a basic print with PLA is just load, select filament , and hit play.



Cool everyone. When I get this dialed in with fitment, I'll test them and see what's up and then I can work on getting people's names.

Again, you will need to send me $ for the filament (plastic), and shipping, and I'll print them for free. I'll make a few slides on a PDF showing the design and the cost breakdown. I don't think it will cost more than $80, but it also depends on how "beefy" I need to print them ... meaning how much fill and shell layers we use to make them durable yet cheap and light.

can you share file and i'll try to print one this weekend. @KayaPayaPigDog I can print you one. your vids have helped me so happy send you a set assuming i can get it work haha.

 

[MeBEEF]

can you share file and i'll try to print one this weekend. @KayaPayaPigDog I can print you one. your vids have helped me so happy send you a set assuming i can get it work haha.

Need to fix it before I send but sure I can once it fix the back side of it to match the rim, shouldn't be hard maybe this Sunday or Monday morning

 

[John E Davies]

can you share file and i'll try to print one this weekend. @KayaPayaPigDog I can print you one. your vids have helped me so happy send you a set assuming i can get it work haha.

What printer do you have? I assume it is a Bambu since you referred to that slicer. I think you will have more than a little trouble fitting a 17” RR trim ring on a small bed, even their brand new $2400 actively heated pro model will only do 12”…

I would like to see how you do it, you could cut the file vertically into four identical “pie slices” and glue the parts together afterwards. LOL….

Don’t use super glue, it will break when frozen. Solvent welding with acetone would be my choice. The mating surfaces must be close to perfect and dead smooth (no surface plate texture), use a strap type picture framing clamp to hold it together…

https://blog.prusa3d.com/the-great-guide-to-gluing-and-assembling-3d-prints_44908/

I use a special Tamiya ABS cement with only moderate success, I buy it from a supplier in Poland because the EPA outlawed its sale here. Yikes, be safe!

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[MeBEEF]

Hey John!

Good call on the superglue. I am using this for now for prototyping. But you're right I'll need to swap over to something more temperature friendly. I will likely ship the trim rings unglued as this will be much cheaper. We can look for a good glue on Amazon so it is easy for everyone to follow along.

As for the printing: if you look at my post with the MVAD model. I only make 1/6th of the trim ring and add mechanical features to lock them together. Used square peg/hole. 2 of them fit in the print plate. I have a Bambu X1C. Amazing printer by the way. Worth every penny.


Quick update:

I added the lip on the backside on the trim last night and because there is now an offset on the print side it uses support and this drives the print time from 1hr 40min to 5hrs 40min! So I'm going to split the design into another assembly part to speed it up again because that would mean 200 hrs of printing for a single truck... f-that.

I'll make more progress today.

 

[John E Davies]

We can look for a good glue on Amazon so it is easy for everyone to follow along.

As for the printing: if you look at my post with the MVAD model. I only make 1/6th of the trim ring and add mechanical features to lock them together. Used square peg/hole. 2 of them fit in the print plate.

I missed that post, I thought you only posted a partial shot of the full sized print file.

I doubt that you will find a good affordable glue online that will actually bond to styrene, other than super glue/ CA, I have been down that rabbit hole with no success. A specialized clear two part epoxy might be OK. I haven’t tried that method yet, it might work. Gorilla epoxy specifically says it will not bond, but JB Weld specifically says it does work on ABS, which is also a styrene, but there is no mention of ASA, you would need to apply it to a couple of scraps, and do a destruction test to see how well it holds.

J B Weld SKU: 50112 CLEARWELD™ SYRINGE - 25 ML $ 7.99

Do you really think a multi part ring will stay on a wheel more than a day or two? I bet the first big pothole will pop it right off, or parts of it. And I am trying to visualize how it could look acceptable compared to a single piece version. Maybe from twenty feet away.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[MeBEEF]

I missed that post, I thought you only posted a partial shot of the full sized print file.

I doubt that you will find a good affordable glue online that will actually bond to styrene, other than super glue/ CA, I have been down that rabbit hole with no success. A specialized clear two part epoxy might be OK. I haven’t tried that method yet, it might work. Gorilla epoxy specifically says it will not bond, but JB Weld specifically says it does work on ABS, which is also a styrene, but there is no mention of ASA, you would need to apply it to a couple of scraps, and do a destruction test to see how well it holds.

J B Weld SKU: 50112 CLEARWELD™ SYRINGE - 25 ML $ 7.99

Do you really think a multi part ring will stay on a wheel more than a day or two? I bet the first big pothole will pop it right off, or parts of it. And I am trying to visualize how it could look acceptable compared to a single piece version. Maybe from twenty feet away.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

I will test it offroading to know for sure. I think it will be ok as there are bolts holding it down.

I also do gold prospecting as a hobby, and I printed a custom sluice box (a good size one). Like this I had to print it in parts. I used PETG, and nothing has broken on it, and its been in the river and hiked with and bumped against rocks while hiking over boulders.

Working on it right now. Need to get the print time down for this to be viable.

- I love JB weld.

John, have you ever used onShape for mechanical CAD? It is free, and it's fantastic. You should learn mechanical design if you plan to get into 3D printing, and there are a TON of tutorials on youtube for it. It will really open up your possibilities with your 3D printer, and it's really not that hard to learn, but does take some focus.

 

[budmancan]

If your willing to ship to the new 51 state I would be interested

Sponsored